Awareness and Use of Internet Resources by Visually-impaired Students in Kerala: Case Study of Thiruvananthapuram District

The aim of the study is to investigate the awareness and usage of internet resources among visually challenged students in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala. Survey method and questionnaire tool were used to collect data from 74 visually challenged students, who are studying in various schools of Thiruvananthapuram. Analyses revealed that 59.46 % students are computer literates and are aware of online resources. However, internet usage is very less among the computer literates due to the lack of proper training. Among the respondents, a good number of students are aware of assistive technologies, even though many of them are not using them. The mostly used assistive technology is screen reader. It is found that students are depending on internet resources mainly for their academic purpose. Responses shows that lack of proper training creates a big barrier in using internet and only 25.67 % are using it very confidently. The results of the study would be helpful in getting a fairly good idea of the student's awareness level of internet resources and assistive technologies. The outcome of the study helps the school authorities, librarians and the government to provide adequate services and training to visually challenged students to access information without any barriers.